Legendary business leader Jack Welsh was hospitalized for three months with discitis, an infection of the spine, which delayed the launch of his business program at Chancellor. The institute was supposed to start offering courses this fall.

Welch, former chairman and chief executive of General Electric Corp.,was released from a New York hospital on Oct. 5, according to his Twitter account.

In a statement issued by Chancellor, he seemed eager to get the institute on track: "A terrific team of highly respected academics and experienced practitioners has contributed to courses that do exactly what we envisioned – offer an MBA that is relevant, powerful, and unique, filled with real-world utility and infused with a management philosophy I deeply believe in."

Chancellor, which until 2008 was Myers University, is targeting the online education market for the master's degrees it will offer in business administration and management.

The partnership between Welch and Chancellor is still a curiosity. A reporter at the Chronicle of Higher Education, writing about the institute earlier this week, posed this question: "So how did a senior statesman of American business who spent the past four years teaching at MIT end up hooking his reputation to a no-name Rust Belt college that holds classes in a converted warehouse?"

Because -- according to news reports -- Chancellor investor Michael Clifford asked Welch, who eventually decided to sign on. The reports also sayWelch has invested $2 million in the program at Chancellor, which has offices and classrooms in the old Minnehaha Water Co. plant at Chester Avenue and E. 40th Street.

Steve Kerr, who led GE's Leadership Development Center in Crotonville, N.Y., and Goldman Sachs' executive education programs, has been named executive director of the institute. He also is a former dean of faculty at the University of Southern California's business school

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